Page 12 of Rupture

Her gaze drifted again to Finn. His eyes narrowed as he studied the hologram. Even in the dim light, she could make out the sharp planes of his face, the hard lines of his body. Her teeth pressed against each other. Now, he was a distraction, all right.

“Key tasks will be power restoration, fixing the shuttle, and medical care of the crew.” Ethan nodded in Rose’s direction, his expression unreadable. “Dr. Wyndham is an engineer and will assist us in getting comms and access reestablished, but her primary objective is to secure all research data and ensure it is brought to the surface safely.”

A prickle of awareness danced along her skin. She didn’t need to look to know Finn was watching her. His gaze assessing.

Focus Rose.

She kept her eyes fixed on the hologram, on the pulsing red dot that represented her sister’s last known location. She tried to recall the layout of the habitat, the details she had studied so intently over the last twenty-four hours. Science and engineering labs on the upper floor, residential and supplies on the lower level. But looking at the holographic representation, the whole thing seemed so impossibly far from the surface, a tiny bubble of life suspended in a vast, dark void.

“So we access the cave here?” She gestured at the small notch in the rock poised above the vastness of the lake underneath.

The entrance.

A clipped nod from Ethan. “At the access point, it slants down for almost five feet before terminating in a choke point.” His fingers skimmed where the access thinned to an impossibly narrow line on the hologram, a fragile thread connecting the surface world to the depths below. “Throughthe choke point, there’s a vertical drop of seven feet to a ledge before there’s another drop of almost fifty feet to the lake itself.”

Fifty feet. Rose feigned disinterest, but her skin was suddenly clammy. She had never been afraid of heights, but the thought of descending into that dark, unknown space made her stomach twist.

“This is not an easy access, and people have died in this cave.” Ethan’s voice was low, almost reverent. “Safety is our number one priority. We will rappel down to the water where we will set up base camp with inflatable rafts and submersible lighting. From there, we will dive to the Io. Liev estimates the dive will be around an hour and a half minimum. He will calibrate the tanks.” He paused, his gaze sweeping the room. “Any questions?”

Ethan looked pointedly at Rose and Harris, his eyes flinty. “My team will have final say on all safety aspects. No discussion. Am I clear?”

Rose nodded in agreement along with Harris, adrenaline pumping through her veins, a heady mix of fear and excitement.

Ethan’s head bobbed with approval. “Good. I like it when everyone completes the mission alive. I’ll be running this op along with Finn, Luca, and Liev. We’ll have medic support from Duke. Nik will be our point man on the surface along with Cade.” He surveyed his team, his expression serious. “As an extra precaution, since we have civilians on this mission, Dr. Wyndham and Professor Harris will each be paired. Luca, you’ll be looking after Professor Harris.”

Luca nodded, his eyes flicking to Harris with a glimmer of something that might have been amusement.

“Finn, you will be responsible for Dr. Wyndham.”

Whoa. What?

They were pairing her with Finn Jones? She opened her mouth to protest, but the words died on her lips as she caught Finn’s gaze, challenge glinting in his eyes.

“Guess we’re working together, Doc.” Finn’s voice was rough, a velvet rasp that teased at something deep within her, something she didn’t want to acknowledge. He walked around the hologram to face her, his movements athletic and graceful.

“Guess we are.” Rose bristled, her jaw tightening as she forced a polite smile onto her face. Of all the people she could have been paired with. It was him, the man who pushed all her buttons.

“How wonderful.” Finn shot her a lazy grin that made her blood pressure spike.

“Dr. Wyndham?” Harris beckoned her from the tent entrance.

Rose seized the distraction like a lifeline, relief flooding through her as she abandoned Finn at the table. “Excuse me.” She pushed her shoulders back, drawing herself up to her full height as she walked away. She released a trembling breath, her heart pounding as if she’d just narrowly escaped the clutches of a lethal predator.

She repeated a mantra in her head as she left.I am a professional. I can handle Finn Jones.

7

Finn scrapedthe desert dirt with his boot, the coarse grains grinding beneath the sole.

“This is so out of my comfort zone.”

The sand was red brown, like a spillage of dried blood. It crunched underfoot with a brittle noise like a million tiny bones breaking, making the hair on the back of his neck stiffen.

He exhaled.An Omen?Fuck, he was getting superstitious and that was not a luxury he could afford in his line of work.

He tugged his baseball hat, angling it to protect his eyes from the relentless glare of the sun as he contemplated the shit load of kit that still needed to be unloaded. Sweat beaded on the back of his neck and trickled between his shoulder blades.

A heavy slap collided with his shoulder. “It’s sand. Doesn’t bite.” Liev’s voice carried a hint of amusement.

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